Sustainable Development Goal 11

The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals established in 2015 have long been targets that governments around the world are ambitiously striving to reach. The eleventh goal looks to “make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.” These goals involve modernizing our urban planning strategies, updating construction methods, implementing a new wave of smart building technologies and spearheading initiatives to combat poverty and promote changes in communal behaviors. Global metropolises are one by one jumping up to embrace these methods and change the world we live in for the better.

However, sustainable development in urban centers cannot happen without drastic changes in infrastructure and policy. Rapid urbanization is now forcing lower-income communities into slums, worsening pollution and crime and overburdening transport routes and sanitation services. In 2020 the amount of people living in slums was estimated at 889 million, more than 11% of the world’s population. While more must be done, the seeds of change are sown, and cities are now actively striving to overcome these pressing challenges using new innovations and methods.